The
original plan of attack proposed by Mountbatten's Combined Operations
staff envisaged the use of two specially lightened destroyers. One of
these, whose bow would be packed with explosives, would ram the outer
gate of the 'Normandie' dry dock, while the second, having acted as
escort on the way in, would carry off the crew of the ramming ship PLUS
the survivors of both ships' Commando complements once these had
completed their assault and demolition tasks on shore.

Seen by
Combined Ops as the most efficient solution to the problem of knocking
out St Nazaire's great dock, this plan fell foul of the Admiralty's desperate
need of convoy escorts, and it was only with great difficulty that even
the ramming destroyer was secured, leaving the slack to be taken up
by much smaller and more vulnerable ships of His Majesty's Coastal
Forces.

To ensure sufficient deck space, a total of eighteen
'Little Ships' would take part in the raid, sailing into action in two
columns between the heads of which would be the old destroyer HMS Campbeltown. The
force would include a 'headquarters' gunboat and a specially adapted
MTB: however, the bulk of the number would consist of sixteen 65-ton
wooden-hulled 'B'-type Fairmile Motor Launches normally used for
patrol, escort or anti-submarine duties, and entirely unsuited to the
role of assault ships. In considering the specifications given below,
it should be borne in mind that these launches would be facing numerous
potential adversaries easily capable of dealing them lethal blows. As
well as enemy aircraft whose fire could penetrate their
internal and deck-mounted petrol tanks, the estuary of the Loire was
known to be defended both by powerful coastal artillery and batteries
of light and medium flak. Patrol vessels were almost certain to be
guarding the approaches to St-Nazaire, in addition to which
Intelligence had identified the presence of a flotilla of enemy Torpedo
Boat Destroyers in the immediate area of the port. Commanded by Korvettenkapitän Moritz Schmidt, each of these five steel ships - Seeadler, Jaguar, Iltis, Falke and Kondor
- was capable of wreaking havoc should they ever engage with their
heavy guns wooden MLs only a tenth of their size.

Designed
by the Fairmile Construction Company, the 'B's measured a mere 112' in
length by 18' across the beam. In normal service they carried a crew of
sixteen officers and men; however, for 'CHARIOT' that number would
effectively be doubled by the inclusion of extra officers and ratings
as well as by squads of up to fifteen Commandos. Normally armed with
obsolescent 3-pounder Hotchkiss cannons forward, they would, for the
raid, be re-armed with single 20mm Oerlikon cannons (this weapon
being a personal favourite of Mountbatten's) forward and aft. Useful
against aircraft and unprotected structures, these quickfirers would,
however, prove wholly ineffective when faced with fortified German gun positions and blockhouses.

Eight of the MLs, numbers 298, 306,
307, 341, 443, 446, 447 and 457 made up the newly formed 28th Flotilla,
whose units had as yet had little time to train as a formation. Four
MLs, numbers 192, 262, 267 and 268 belonged to the 20th Flotilla, whose
C.O., Lieutenant-Commander 'Billie' Stephens RNVR, would be responsible
for all the 'B's in the 'CHARIOT' force. The remaining four boats, MLs
156, 160, 177 and 270 were torpedo-variants belonging to the 7th
Flotilla: added almost at the last moment, these retained their
original 3-pounders.

In
all of these ships '...there was a
preponderance of "Wavy-Navy" officers and "Hostilities Only" ratings.
Thrown together in very close proximity, they shared the tedium of
patrol and escort duties that were only very occasionally relieved by
bursts of action. In the majority of cases wardroom and messdeck had a
closer and friendlier relationship than would have been possible on big
ships. Discipline was more democratic, people got to know each
others' little ways, and in a well-run boat a "family" atmosphere
could exist
which enhanced rather than diminished the overall effectiveness of the
crew.

'For the men themselves, the primary living and sleeping
space was the messdeck, a large compartment with six folding bunks
along each side, which occupied most of the forward third of the hull.
Immediately aft of the messdeck was the messdeck lobby, a small open
space approximately amidships, which contained the main access to the
upper deck. Opening off the lobby were four small compartments; on the
port side the Petty Officers' cabin and WC, the spaces reserved for the
coxswain and engine-room chief; and, on the starboard side, the radio
room and galley. Aft of these compartments was the engine-room
containing two American 600 horse-power V12 Hall-Scott "Defender"
marine engines, which could power the boat to a little over twenty
knots. This particular compartment, which had the petrol tanks
immediately behind it, was sealed off from the interior of the boat and
could only be accessed from the deck above. Right behind the petrol
tanks and occupying much of the after portion of the boat, were the
officers' quarters, comprising a small wardroom and officers' pantry
and WC. This portion of the hull was accessed from the upper deck by
its own companionway. Right at the stern were a number of small storage
spaces, the after magazine and the steering gear.

'The main deck
itself was flat and open, forward and aft of the low superstructure
which occupied the middle third of the space. The superstructure did
not extend right across the full width of the deck, leaving walkways
along either side which, for the purposes of "CHARIOT" were used as the
mounting sites for rectangular auxiliary fuel tanks. The foremost
portion of the superstructure contained the enclosed wheelhouse behind
and slightly above which was the open bridge. Immediately abaft the
bridge the deck was only slightly raised, this lowest portion of the
superstructure containing the companionway to the messdeck lobby, the
stubby funnel and the engine-room ventilators.

'As Modified for Operation CHARIOT the foredeck housed the bandstand mounting for the forward
20mm Oerlikon cannon, as well as its ready use ammunition lockers,
while the after portion of the deck housed the second Oerlikon
mounting, the depth-charges, where fitted, and the apparatus for making
smoke which was situated right at the stern. In addition to the
Oerlikons, some bridge-wings were fitted with studs on which could be
mounted stripped-Lewis guns. Additional Lewis mountings, for
anti-aircraft use, were to be found on the after part of the
superstructure, or on the after deck.

'Of
round-bilge
construction, the Fairmile 'B's were capable of standing up to very
severe sea conditions, although in certain circumstances they could
roll and corkscrew mercilessly, as Newman's Commandos were soon to
discover for themselves. Consigned to a dusty and forgotten corner of
the Navy, the 'B's lived a solitary existence, seen by many only as a
wartime necessity; coastal forces vessels were tolerated - no more.
They were never taken as seriously as steel-hulled ships: however, as
"CHARIOT" would show, their crews - who, unlike Newman's Commandos,
were not given the option of volunteering for the job - would behave
under fire in such a
manner as to prove themselves more than worthy custodians of the very
best traditions of the Senior Service.'

As
for the remaining two 'Little ships', the gunboat was also a
Fairmile - but this time one of the 'C'-class boats. 'Slightly shorter
and narrower than the 'B'-type, her three supercharged Hall-Scott
engines could power her to a sustainable 23 knots and a maximum speed
of 26.5 knots. Wooden-hulled as were the 'B's, she was of hard chine
construction, with her officers' accommodation forward of the crew
spaces, and most of the after portion of her hull taken up by the
engines and their petrol tanks. She was quite heavily armed, with a
Vickers 2-pounder pom-pom forward, and a Rolls Royce 2-pounder
semi-automatic cannon aft. Amidships on either side of the deck twin
.5" machine guns were mounted in power-operated turrets and on the
bridge there were .303 machine guns.' ('STORMING ST NAZAIRE' p55)

The
inclusion of the gunboat in a way only adds insult to the injury of the
Admiralty's failure to supply the raiding force with suitable ships:
for on the night the 314's surviving (forward) pom-pom transpired to be
the only gun on the attacking side capable of dealing with the
blockhouses on and around the Old Mole - which begs the obvious
question, why were more of her type not included? In his
after action report her captain, Lieutenant Dunstan Curtis, comments
that 'It was noticeable that the German flak positions ashore fired
shot for shot with the Oerlikons of the 'B' MLs, but whenever MGB 314's
pom-pom opened up on them..the German gun crews were either killed, or
at least were made to keep their heads well down........If a flotilla
of 'C' MGBs could have been employed, I believe the situation would
have been very much more favourable for us'. (I.W.M.)

And
so we come to the tiny MTB74, whose inclusion in the raiding force
arguably owes more to the perserverence of her captain, Sub Lieutenant
Micky Wynn, than to any great utility she might offer on the night.
Essentially a Vosper 70-footer, she was in fact a one-off adaptation
specifically created to attack the battle-cruisers, then in Brest, by
speeding up to the ships' protective anti-torpedo nets and firing
special demolition torpedoes (whose motors had been replaced by
additional explosives) over them from tubes mounted high on her
fo'c's'le. Her job, during 'CHARIOT' was to fire these delayed-action
torpedoes at the inner 'Normandie' caisson, should the dry dock be open
to the Loire, or at the outer caisson should Campbeltown fail
to reach her target. In the event she was ordered to lay her torpedoes
against the gates of the Old Entrance lock where their greatly delayed
explosion precipitated a violent German response against what they
believed must be 'terrorists' in hiding. The MTB herself, after taking
on board a full complement of survivors from Campbeltown, was later destroyed in the estuary with great loss of life.

MTB 74: (John Lambert/Vosper Thorneycroft UK Ltd)

A total of six troop-carrying MLs from each column had been tasked to come alongside at both the Old Mole and in the Old Entrance.
Tragically they met a wall of defensive fire from which few emerged
unscathed with vessel after vessel being shot to pieces and left to
burn to the waterline amidst flaming pools of petrol. Of the seventeen
wooden boats to stage an attack only three would make it back to
Falmouth. The cost of sending such 'Little Ships' to St-Nazaire
would be bitter indeed.

(With
the exception of comments attributed to Dunstan Curtis, all material
quoted on this page is taken from 'STORMING ST NAZAIRE', and is
copyright)